Monrovia, Liberia: a Clinic that Won’t Give Up

10/6/2014: It takes a certain kind of resilience to work at the SOS Medical Clinic in Monrovia, Liberia - the center of the Ebola epidemic gripping many West African nations. Ever since the outbreak of the Ebola virus in Liberia, access to clinics has been a major challenge. Most health facilities are reluctant to accept patients due to their fear of the deadly Ebola virus.

And yet staff at the SOS Medical Clinic, the only one still open 24 hours a day, continue treating upwards of fifty patients a day, even though they know that they themselves could contract the deadly disease.

In fact, two of their co-workers have contracted it, and sadly, one of them passed away two weeks ago. The other, Klubo Mulbah, survived.

Klubo, a physicians assistant, was infected after helping a small child who was already displaying symptoms of Ebola.

“I was called up to the children’s ward to help out with a sick child. As we tried to administer an IV (intravenous drip feed) the child started vomiting blood, and later died,” Klubo recalls.

After the incident with the child, Klubo came down with a high fever. Knowing the risk for Ebola was high due to her work as a healthcare provider, Klubo immediately distanced herself from her family and went to the clinic for testing. Although the first test was negative, Klubo’s condition continued to deteriorate and when she went to the clinic for a second time, the doctors diagnosed her with Ebola.

Weeks of treatment at an Ebola Treatment Unit in Monrovia followed, but Klubo knew it was worth it to be rid of the deadly virus.

Despite her ordeal, Klubo says there’s no turning back. Her job, and her passion, is to reach out and save as many lives as possible and she isn’t going to let anything, including Ebola, stop her.

SOS Children’s Villages is proud to work with staff members like Klubo, who risk their lives every day to save others. Over 7,000 people have perished from the disease, and Klubo and her co-workers are doing all that they can to ensure that number doesn’t rise.

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SOS Children's Villages is the largest organization devoted to the care of orphaned and abandoned children. We are present in 135 countries and territories, including the United States.